This is about Bwana Devil, a band that existed in Minneapolis, MN in various incarnations during 1981. What follows are a couple of live recordings which the band has graciously allowed me to share on Live Music Archive with other past, present and future fans.
[links to recordings provided in posts below]
Core line-up:
Tim Mitchell : bass, vocals
Shawn Pike : guitar
Mark McGirl : bass
Pogo : Drums
Supporting personnel at various times:
Trenk : keyboards
Wendell Patrick : bass
Caleb Palmiter : bass
Bwana Devil • 1981-04-08
Mpls, MN • 7th St. Entry
After The Sacred Version more or less self-imploded in 1980, the subsequent projects pursued by the members of that band underlined just how many directions we had all been trying to go in at once. A brief stopgap was provided later that same year by The 600, momentarily reuniting Tim, Shawn and myself for a one night stand at The Longhorn, but the next real hint of things to come emerged the following year in the form of Bwana Devil.
The band’s namesake was a 1952 film, noted as having sparked the 3-D film craze in the US, although that sounds better on paper than in the theater, according to the movie critics.
Bwana Devil certainly had a lot more going for them as a band than the film they appropriated their name from, at any rate. Although the adjective “primal” has been overused by music critics to the point of cliche, when describing the murky realm between the early roots of post-punk tone poetry and industrial rhythms, I would argue that it certainly seemed appropro in this case.
[Additional notes in 2024 from Tim Mitchell]:
If you want to update for historical accuracy, the standard lineup of Bwana Devil was:
Tim Mitchell : bass, vocals
Shawn Pike : guitar
Mark McGirl : bass (yes, we had two bass players)
Pogo : Drums
Trenk was playing keyboards somewhere in the middle of our run, and both Win [Wendell Patrick] and Caleb Palmiter for very short stints on bass. (I believe Caleb only played one gig with us.)
Recorded / transferred / edited / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Bwana Devil • 1981-04-22
Mpls, MN • 7th St. Entry
This is the first show without Trenk. I rode the bus downtown to Seventh Street Entry and Trenk was on the same bus with his keyboard in tow, so we arrived together at the venue. Upon his arrival, he was informed that the other members of the group had decided to dismiss him from the band, so there are no keyboards present on this recording.
I’m only aware of a handful of dates after this – a couple of bills with Husker Du, Wilma & The Wilbers, and Things That Fall Down – before the band fell off my radar. During 1982 – 83, Tim and Shawn re-emerged in Timbuktu, and by 1983, Tim was performing with Dark Carnival, which continued at least through 1985, and perhaps even later, but by that point I had departed for NYC, just in time to miss almost everything.
Recorded / transferred / edited / tracked / tagged by: J.Free / Sonic Archives [sonicarchives.com]
Download or stream the show from Live Music Archive
Download or stream all sets by Bwana Devil from Live Music Archive
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